Series: 3rd meeting, Lakeland leads 2-0
Lakeland and Illinois College are meeting for the second straight year in the season opener but just the third time ever. The Muskies rallied for a 28-18 win last year on a Thursday night in Jacksonville, Ill., scoring the final 14 points of the game. Charl'Tez Nunnery's 6-year TD pass to Kolby Cohen was the go-ahead score, and Nunnery added a rushing TD to go along with two passing touchdowns. Larry Rivers also rushed for 177 yards., while Trevor Smalls led the Blueboys with 91 yards rushing and K.J. Corley caught six passes for 100 yards and a score. The lone other meeting also came on the Blueboys' field in Jacksonville, when the Muskies prevailed 26-12 Sept. 24, 1966, as Tom Riffey threw three touchdown passes and added a touchdown run and Lakeland forced five Blueboy turnovers and allowed just 37 yards rushing.

About Lakeland: The Muskies enter their 86th football season coming off a strong 2021 campaign. Lakeland finished 8-2 overall, tying for its most wins in a season since going 10-0 in 1997, and the Muskies finished 6-2 and placed third in the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference. Lakeland boasted one of the most productive offenses in NCAA Division III, ranking fourth nationally in total offense and in the top 25 nationally in both rushing and passing. The defense also ranked in the top 10 nationally in sacks per game, interceptions and turnovers forced.

The Muskies must replace a number of experienced playmakers on both sides of the ball, including the school's all-time leading rusher Larry Rivers, starting quarterback Charl'Tez Nunnery and 1,000-yard receiver Brice Kensey, who now is an assistant on the coaching staff. Rayshion Brumfield, Shazon Crutcher and Otis Watts are also among eight starters departed on defense. 

About Illinois College: The Blueboys' 2021 season could be divided up neatly into two separate mini-seasons. In the first part, IC got off to a 0-5 start, including a season-opening loss to Lakeland and defeats in its first four Midwest Conference games. The second part saw Illinois College rally to win its final five games, including its final three wins by a combined score of 114-34, to finish 5-5 overall and 5-4 in conference.

The Blueboys also have a hole to fill at quarterback with the graduation of Destin Chance, who threw for 1,773 yards and 18 touchdowns last year and also paced the team with 522 rushing yards and six touchdowns. Whoever is throwing the ball will have a potent receiving corps with K.J. Corley (824 yards, 8 TDs) and Collin Brunstein (484 yards, 8 TDs) both returning. The defense is led by Trent Durell, who finished with 70 tackles a year ago, including 11 tackles for loss.

Lakeland in season openers: Lakeland is 26-59 all-time in season-opening games, though it won has won its last two season openers. The Muskies have won five of their last seven season debuts, a string of success after losing nine straight openers from 2006-14. Lakeland's record in home openers is quite a bit better-a 37-46-2 mark in its first 85 years of football.

Good place to start: The Muskies return nine starters from a year ago, including six on offense. If there's one spot to choose to be well-stocked, though, it might be offensive line, and Lakeland brings back all five starters from a year ago. The group includes left tackle Asa Spindler, left guard Jeremiah Jones, center Zach Welnetz, right guard Joseph Pegues and right tackle Dustin Bergene, and two received postseason honors from the NACC last year with Jones named second team all-NACC and Bergene an honorable mention selection. The group includes a grad student (Bergene), a senior (Pegues) and three juniors in Jones, Spindler and Welnetz whose first season was the abbreviated 2020-21 spring season, when the team played a shortened schedule due to the COVID-19 pandemic.